The modern construction era has brought about a tremendous expansion of the use of technology and computers in connection with designing and building structures of all types. Building Information Modeling (BIM), which is an accurate computer generated representation of a building, is one area that has fueled the expansion of the integration of computers into areas such as building design. In this regard, BIM may be used to increase the productivity and capability of architects and draftsmen to design buildings and produce corresponding engineering drawings and other downstream deliverables. These deliverables can then be easily modified and regenerated by revising the original model.
Production builders are one example of an industry segment that benefits from the advantages that can be offered by BIM. In this regard, for example, production builders typically build a relatively large number of houses from a set of basic plans and then provide various options for buyers to implement according to their budget and desires. Many production builders also have specialized sales staff that work with potential buyers to provide guidance for the presentation and selection of various options. The ability to provide options is often very attractive to buyers who wish to customize their house to some degree. In addition, options provide a vehicle for additional incremental sales at higher margins for the builder. However, the provision of options also has the potential for both profit or loss for builders. In this regard, for example, some options may be relatively simple to implement or at least may not present problems when actually building a structure, while other options may significantly complicate the building process and may lead to cost overruns that may severely damage the builder's bottom line.
To facilitate management of options integration, options configurators have been developed that aim to assist builders in providing options to potential buyers in a way that is attractive to buyers, but is also useful for the builder. However, typical options configurators may rigidly apply predetermined options and therefore have limited flexibility and adaptability. Moreover, typical options configurators may be relatively rigid in relation to the ability to define options specific to different segments of an organization.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide an options configurator that addresses at least some of the issues described above.